Pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the tenth most common cancer in the UK, with around 10,500 people diagnosed every year. It is the deadliest common cancer; over half of people die within three months of diagnosis.

The GIRFT workstream supports the delivery of the Optimal Care Pathway, a Pancreatic Cancer UK-led initiative which has brought together 300 health professionals and people affected to agree on how standards of diagnosis, treatment and care of those with pancreatic cancer and their families can be improved.

GIRFT’s national review of services will involve data-driven deep dives at all specialist centres and their feeding hospitals in England, identifying their progress against the recommendations in the Optimal Care Pathway. It will highlight actions the NHS providers need to take to improve services, as well as gathering examples of good practice to share with other NHS teams and the NHS England Cancer Programme.

Find out more about GIRFT’s data-led approach and best practice resources:

GIRFT launches national review into services for pancreatic cancer patients

Raneem Albazaz

Clinical lead for pancreatic cancer

Dr Albazaz is a consultant radiologist at St James's University Hospital, Leeds.

She is a former secretary of the British Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (BSGAR), and has been a core member of the tertiary level pancreatic MDT at Leeds for more than 12 years, as well as participating in several national projects on pancreatic cancer led by Pancreatic Cancer UK and NHS England. She is one of the core members of the PACT-UK project.

Daniel Palmer

Clinical lead for pancreatic cancer

Professor Palmer has been the north west Cancer Research chair and honorary consultant in medical oncology at the University of Liverpool since 2011.

He is a member of the UK National Cancer Research Network upper GI cancers clinical studies group, and the hepatobiliary and pancreatic sub-groups. He is director of the Cancer Research UK and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Liverpool Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and has established a portfolio of early phase clinical trials and translational studies associated with a large clinical practice for patients with pancreatic cancer.

Ganesh Radhakrishna

Clinical lead for pancreatic cancer

Dr Radhakrishna is a consultant clinical oncologist, and Oesophago-Gastric (OG) and Hepato-Pancreato Biliary (HPB) tumour site lead at the NHS England Proton Beam Centre at The Christie Hospital, Manchester.

He has been involved in major radiation therapy trials in the UK and was part of the group which developed and implemented the PACT UK radiology synoptic reporting tool for UK pancreatic MDTs. He is collaborating with other centres to develop and deliver UK proton beam trials for pancreatic cancer and has co-led on the development and roll out of PBT for OG and HPB tumour sites at the NHS England PBT facilities.

Keith Roberts

Clinical lead for pancreatic cancer

Professor Roberts is a Hepato-Pancreato Biliary (HPB) and liver transplant surgeon at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust and honorary professor at the University of Birmingham.

He is the pancreas cancer subspeciality lead for the Royal College of Surgeons of England and retired treasurer to the Pancreatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. His research expertise is in pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, post operative pancreatic fistula and pathways to surgery for pancreatic cancer. He has led national audits in pancreatic cancer.

Claire Pearce

Clinical nurse specialist for pancreatic cancer

Claire is a Macmillan hepatobiliary and pancreatic clinical nurse specialist at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.

She is the deputy chair for the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic West Midlands Expert Advisory Group and is also a committee member for the National Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Nurse Group.